1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to: a disc cartridge provided with a plurality of trays each holding a disc, and a cartridge case assembled so as to enable those trays to be taken in and out, in which an operating unit disposed in the tray is drawn or pressed to thereby take the tray in and out; and a disc recording and/or reproducing apparatus (hereafter, referred to as a disc auto-changer) for recording on and/or reproducing from the disc on the tray by using the disc cartridge.
2. Description of the Related Art
A disc cartridge shown in FIG. 32 is known as the above-mentioned disc cartridge (also referred to as a disc magazine). The disc cartridge 201 is provided with a plurality of trays 203 each holding a discoid recording medium (hereafter, referred to as a disc) 202; and a cartridge case 204 assembled so as to enable those trays 203 to be taken in and out, in which an operating unit 205 (hereafter, referred to as a hook) disposed in the tray 203 is drawn or pressed to thereby take the tray 203 in and out of the cartridge case 204.
The disc cartridge 201 is used in such a way that the respective trays 203 are taken out of the cartridge case 204, and the respective discs 202 are placed thereon. The disc cartridge 201 is loaded into a disc auto-changer (not shown in FIG. 23) in a condition that the trays 203 are returned back to the case 204.
As shown in FIG. 33, the disc auto-changer 301 is provided with: a cartridge loader 302 for loading the disc cartridge 201; an elevating unit, namely, an elevator 303 arranged opposite to an opening of the cartridge loader 302; and an elevating control mechanism 304 for vertically elevating the elevator 303 along one side of the disc cartridge 201.
After the elevating control mechanism 304 moves the elevator 303 to a position corresponding to a tray 203 on which a desired disc 202 is placed, a loading mechanism 305 disposed in the elevator 303 pulls the tray 203 into the elevator 303. Then, as shown in FIG. 34B, the disc 202 on the tray 203 is placed on a turn table 306, and chucked by a chucking plate 307. After that, a disc recording and/or reproducing unit composed of an optical pickup and the like mounted on the elevator 303 records on and/or reproduces from the disc.
By the way, in the case of the disc cartridge 201 and the disc auto-changer 301, as shown in FIG. 35, left and right sides 204a, 204b of the cartridge case 204 and left and right sides 303a, 303b of the elevator 303 serve as guide planes of the tray 203. The tray 203 is slid while it is guided by those guide planes. This results in the following problems.
(1) If a moment in a direction indicated by an arrow M (a direction in which the tray is inclined to a direction A where it is taken in and out) is applied in pulling the hook 205 of the tray 203, the side 203a of the tray 203 is pushed against the side 204a of the cartridge case 204. Thus, a smooth slide of the tray 203 is impeded. In the worst case, the tray 203 is caught by the side 204a, and it is stopped.
(2) Since a distance L between the guide planes is long, a dimensional tolerance between the guide planes is large. Thus, in order to attain an excellent guide effect, management of components is difficult.